Picture Perfect
by LadySnowTheStark
Summary: A temperamental Paul Lahote imprints on one Serena Wilder, a girl in love with nature, photography, and the idea of love itself. Paul/OC
1. Chapter 1

I can't believe I am voluntarily writing a Twilight fic, but the heart wants what the heart wants! And these days, it wants a shirtless werewolf. Yummy. Enjoy!

* * *

"Just _one _more, Em, please!"

"Serena, you _know_ how I feel about cameras!"

"You're beautiful, stupid girl, shut up and let me work!"

Emily Uley rolled her eyes, but gave a quick smile to the enthusiastic girl opposite her. Serena Wilder was impossible to argue with. After knowing her for almost ten years, Emily knew she should be used to it, but she still wasn't. The girl was loud, constantly happy and had the most enchanting laugh she had ever heard.

"Done!" Serena clicked her camera one final time before removing it from her face and beaming. "These should keep me going until that husband of yours tells me the way to the cove you keep going on about."

"You really don't want to go there during bear season," warned Emily. She continued to flip pancakes on the stove as she used her free hand to rummage in the cupboard for syrup. "At least wait until one of the boys can take you."

Serena rolled her eyes. "What _is _it with you and those bodyguards? Don't get me wrong, I love being surrounded by six feet of shirtless muscle all day, but aren't you a little old for that?" she yelped as Emily swatted her with a spatula. "Hey!"

"Those boys treat me like I'm their mother and you know it!"

"A very hot mother, might I add."

"Shut up and go develop your pictures."

Serena grinned and hopped off the bar stool, reaching over the counter to give Emily a smacking kiss on her good cheek. Emily's lips twitched, but she sternly pointed towards the stairs leading to the upstairs portion. The younger woman blew her a kiss and bounded up the stairs just as the door to the house opened.

"Whose there?" called out Emily. She turned off the stove and set the plate of pancakes on the table. At that moment, Paul Lahote sauntered into the room. "Oh, hello, Paul."

"Morning," said Paul. His tone was expressionless, but it usually was. He sat down without invitation and Emily pushed the plate towards him wordlessly. He offered her a half-hearted grin. "Thanks, Em."

Emily smiled back. "No problem. What's up? You're early."

"Sam kicked me off patrol," Paul rolled his eyes and allowed Emily to pour a generous amount of syrup onto his pancakes. "Apparently missing the routine for a few days means I'm off my game."

"How was the funeral?"

Pauls shrugged. "It was nice. We were never close, y'know? But she was still my mom. I met her husband. He seemed like an okay guy. He said she left some pictures and stuff of the two of us and he'd send them to me soon. I thought that was pretty decent of him."

Emily squeezed his shoulder reassuringly as she passed the counter, carrying another plate of pancakes. She picked up the bottle of syrup and said, "You can crash on the couch in the den, if you want. I won't tell Sam."

"Yeah, you will," grinned Paul. "But thanks. I should head home and see my dad. Who are those for?" he eyed the plate suspiciously.

"Oh, didn't Sam tell you? My best friend's younger sister, Serena, is visiting for a few weeks. She's working on a photography project for college and I asked her to stay with me for the summer while she takes pictures around the Rez," Emily placed the syrup bottle on the plate and winked at Paul. "She'll be at the bonfire tonight too. You should meet her. She's very nice, and _very_ pretty."

The last part was said with a pointed look at Paul, who rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Em?"

"I'm just saying," she shrugged innocently. "Plus, she's an _amazing_ baker. Her mother taught me everything I know."

"That's nice, but I'll pass on the blind dates," Paul stood up and stretched. "I'll come tonight though, _if_ you promise to not tell Sam that I went home and crashed."

Emily laughed. "Bye, Paul."

**!**

Serena absently flicked through the pictures she had just downloaded onto her laptop and selected a few solo shots of Emily, a few with her and Sam and finally a group picture of all the boys with Emily in the centre. Her mother and sister had been dying to see pictures of all the people who had been so welcoming at Sam and Emily's wedding, so she had promised to email a few nice ones. Since she had missed the wedding, it was her first time meeting everyone and she was surprised at how accepting the Quileutes were. She had barely known them for three days and already they were her favourite people.

Serena finished sending the email and shut her laptop, glancing at her watch and noting that it was almost time to leave for the barbecue on the beach that Emily had said they were supposed to go to. She ran to her closet and sifted through the clothes aimlessly; she had nobody to impress here, but she hadn't left the house much since she had come. Shrugging, she grabbed an off the shoulder white lace top, more for the comfortable fit than the amount of skin it showed, and opted to stick with the jeans she had worn that morning after showering. She changed, quickly ran a brush through her dark brown hair and grabbed a hair clip off her bed before rushing down the stairs. Emily stood in the living room, hands on her hips. There was a basket at her feet.

Serena bit her lip and swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet, resisting the urge to smile. "Hi, Em."

"You're late," said Emily crisply. "We were supposed to get a ride with Paul, but now we'll have to _walk_."

Serena blinked and glanced out the window behind her. The view was of the beach. The barbecue was at the beach. She blinked again. "Emily, you _live_ on the beach. What's so bad about walking?"

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Oh, honey, this is going to be one _long_ summer if you keep this up," she picked up the basket and opened the front door, gesturing for her to go first. "What's so bad about walking? _You're_ carrying the basket."


	2. Chapter 2

"Serena!"

"Claire-bear!"

"Look, Quil got me a doll!"

"Look, Emily got me a basket that weighs more than Quil!"

Claire frowned. "But you can't carry something that heavy, you're a girl."

Serena rolled her eyes as Quil took the basket from her. She rubbed her sore arms and threw him a dirty look as she held Claire's hand. "You're turning the kid into a damsel in distress, you idiot."

Quil grinned. "I didn't say anything. She makes me carry around everything she touches; she's not used to seeing anyone carry something heavy."

"Yeah well, she's not used to seeing single girls either," Serena frowned as they neared the beach. For every Quileute boy she saw, there was definitely a girl curled into his side. "Seriously, did I miss the plus one invite?"

Quil laughed. "We like bringing our girls out here, why is that so bad?"

"You guys are rubbing in the fact that I'm the only one here who's single."

"Leah is single too."

"Leah scares the crap out of boys," Serena pouted and bent down, scooping up Claire into her arms. "Well, I guess I belong at the kids table. See ya!" she ran for the water, allowing Claire to shriek with laughter into her ear. When she neared the water, she set Claire down and collapsed onto the sand, running a hand through her hair and grinning when the little girl copied her.

"So, tell me, Claire-bear," Serena cupped her face in her hands and grinned again when Claire did the same. "Who's the cutest boy here?"

Claire giggled. "Aunt Emily told me to tell you that Paul is cute."

Serena's eyebrows shot up. "Now why would Aunt Emily tell you to say that?"

"Because she's bored and Paul's lonely," said a voice behind them. Claire jumped up and ran away and Serena grinned as Leah Clearwater took a seat next to her.

"I haven't met Paul," said Serena. "Em said he was up in Tacoma."

"He went to his mother's funeral," shrugged Leah. "His parents divorced when he was eight. She had cancer. He was pretty sad."

"Oh," Serena played with the sand for a few seconds. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Its okay, Serena. Emily is just bored. Paul's an okay guy, but he has a bad temper. Not your type."

Serena laughed. "You don't know my type, Leah!"

"You're sunshine and rainbows and he's thunderclouds and lightning."

Serena snorted. "Have you been asleep since we met?"

Leah cracked a smile. "Okay, maybe that was a bit too much."

"Yeah, maybe," Serena stood up and held out a hand, which Lead accepted. "Okay, so since we are obviously the only single girls in this whole damn tribe, what do we do?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Embrace it."

"I reject it. Come on, Leah!" she whined. "I'm _bored_."

"I'll introduce you to Paul," Leah grabbed her arm and dragged her to where a few boys were setting up tables for the food Sam was grilling. Serena recognized Quil, Jared and Embry, but the fourth one was unknown.

"Hey, Paul," called out Leah. He turned around and raised a hand to return Leah's wave, but Serena had ducked down, more out of embarrassment than need, to tie her shoe. She made to straighten up, but a loud noise sounded behind her and she unceremoniously fell to the ground as Claire jumped onto her back. Spitting sand out of her mouth and trying not to die of embarrassment, she huffed and reached up a hand to steady Claire, but realized someone had already pulled her off. Judging by the jean-clad legs and dark shoes in front of her face, it was probably Paul. She winced and started to stand, but suddenly his hand was there, under her elbow, helping her up. She raised her eyes and they locked with his immediately.

She sucked in a deep breath. His eyes were dark brown and filled with wonder, as if he was seeing a girl for the first time. It should have made her uncomfortable, but it didn't. Serena found herself looking right back at him. He was ridiculously good-looking, but something about him other than his face made her continue to stare, trying to piece together the various expressions she saw flitting through his eyes. She couldn't help but think that if there was a camera that could somehow capture the look in his eyes at that moment, she would cut off her right arm for it, just to be able to see that expression whenever she wanted. Before she could even blink, however, he had looked away and was stalking off towards the woods at the edge of the shore.

Serena blinked and let out a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. Her hand clawed in mid-air until it came into contact with Leah's shoulder. She tore her eyes away from Paul's shrinking figure and turned to her friend. "Leah?" asked Serena. Her friend didn't answer, merely narrowed her eyes. Serena followed her line of sight and saw Quil and Jared run off after Paul as Embry jogged towards them. "What's going on?" Serena shook Leah's arm. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Nah, don't worry about it," suddenly Embry was in front of them. He grinned. "That's just Paul being Paul. You'll have to excuse him, Serena, he doesn't take well to new people. He probably just went to take a walk. He was saying he wanted to, just now. Don't worry."

Serena frowned. "Are you sure? Because I feel like he just looked at me and went off."

"No way," Leah finally seemed to find her voice. She gave Serena a bright smile. "Forget Paul. I'll introduce you guys later. In fact, he'll probably come up to you himself soon enough. He's not rude, at least not to new people. Want a burger?" she said everything a little too fast.

Too confused to argue, Serena allowed Embry and Leah to lead her off towards Sam. While she was helping Emily unload the basket, she could have sworn she saw Embry and Sam exchange a few quick words in which her name was mentioned, but when she looked up Embry was gone and Sam was handing Leah a plate with an expressionless face.

The rest of the night passed quickly enough, and by the time Jared had gotten the fire blazing, Serena had almost forgotten about Paul's eyes. That was, until she saw him sitting on the other side of the fire staring right at her with the same expression in them.

She blinked, but he had hadn't looked away this time. She wanted to do something; speak to him, or smile, or show that she wasn't some creep who was content to stare back at a stranger. But at that moment, Seth Clearwater sat down next to her and claimed her full attention.

"You're staring," he sounded amused as he handed her a muffin.

Serena looked away from Paul immediately and blushed at Seth's knowing look. She snatched the muffin from him and sneaked a look at Paul again, but he was gone. She sighed. "I'm such a creep."

"You could just talk to him," Seth bit into his own muffin and chewed thoughtfully. "That's what strangers who stare at each other do, right? I mean, once they're over the staring. They talk."

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You could tell him your name."

"He knows my name."

"You could say you think he's cute."

"Now you're just making fun of me."

"Now you sound like Leah."

"I like her more than you," Serena stuck out her tongue at the younger boy and walked off towards the shore. In the distance, she could see Quil sitting with Claire, listening attentively to whatever she was saying. She started off towards them, bumping her toes against a few tide pools on the way there. She wasn't clumsy, but obviously today wasn't her day; she tripped and was about to go down, but quickly jumped back. In doing so, her shoulder slammed against one of the rocks and she fell onto her side, shrieking loudly in surprise and pain.

She heard voices and footsteps coming towards her, but she didn't move. Her eyes were watery and her arm was killing her. She heard Emily near her head asking her what was wrong, but she used her good hand to wave her off and merely sat up, hissing in pain. Sam's hand was immediately on her shoulder, holding her still. Through the ringing in her ears, Serena tried to focus on what he was saying.

"What hurts, Serena?" his voice was steady. "You almost fell into one of the tide pools. Is it your head? Did you hit it on a rock?"

"Ugh, _no_," she scrunched up her eyes in pain and swatted away his hand. "I'm _fine_. I just hurt my shoulder, I think."

"Let me see," commanded Sam. Serena didn't try to argue, but made a face at Claire, who was clinging to Quil's legs in front of her and looking horrified. Her expression cleared up, but immediately became fearful again when Serena gasped with pain as Sam's hand touched her shoulder blade.

"Bruised but good," he muttered above her. "No permanent damage. You'll be fine."

"Yipee, now shoo!" Serena swatted his away again. "God, you guys are all huge."

"We're standing and you're sitting, that's why," Leah rolled her eyes and held out a hand for Serena to take. She accepted it and got to her feet, but immediately leaned against Leah, frowning.

"Ouch," she bent down and touched her ankle. "Oh."

"Ouch? Oh?" Emily sounded hysterical. "What did you _do_?"

"I bruised my shoulder and sprained my ankle," she shrugged. "Its no big deal, you know I sprain it all the time."

Emily huffed. "I should ground you for this."

Serena looked up in horror. "You can still ground me?"

"Of course I can."

"But I'm living in your house!"

"All the more reason. You're banned from stepping outside of my front door until that ankle heals. Now, lets go home."

Serena huffed and stuck her tongue out at Emily's retreating back. Sam snorted and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'll start the car. We'll wait for you to catch up," he told her. "Unless you want me to carry you?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "No, thanks. Leah can be my crutch," she beamed at her friend, who gave her a dirty look, but allowed her to swing her arm around her shoulders anyway.

Serena gave a mock bow to Quil, Claire, Seth and Embry, the only people remaining around her. They laughed and waved as she began limping away with Leah's help.

"How did you guys get to me so fast?" asked Serena when the two girls were a good distance away from the other people. Leah's face suddenly became perfectly blank, as if she was hiding something, but her tone was neutral when she spoke.

"You yelled pretty loudly, and we saw you fall," she shrugged. "I figured you must have gotten hurt."

"You were all pretty far away to have heard me," pointed out Serena.

"Well, what other explanation is there?"

Serena shrugged. "Just wondering. Voices must carry on this beach, huh?"

"Yeah."

They walked on in silence until they reached Sam's car. He took over for Leah as Serena's crutch and helped her get into the backseat. As he got into the car and drove away, Serena turned back to wave at Leah, only to see that she wasn't alone. Paul was standing next to her, and the look in his eyes hadn't changed at all.


	3. Chapter 3

_"How does it feel, Paul?"_

_"Shut up, Leah."_

_"I don't even know why you asked him, Leah, we can see everything he's feeling and I think-"_

_"Seth," _Sam's voice was calm. _"Take the north perimeter with Leah. Quil and Embry, take the south. Jared, take Colin and Brady around to the Cullens', check up on Jacob. Paul, you're with me."_

Paul didn't argue, and the wolves went their separate ways. He followed Sam's dark form swiftly, trying very hard not to think. They reached the edge of the woods and Sam stopped.

_"Go change back, we're talking."_

Paul didn't argue. Back in their human forms, Sam sat down cross legged on the ground and indicated for Paul to do the same. He frowned. "What?"

Sam merely looked at him. His dark eyes were calm, but when he indicated for Paul to sit, he obeyed automatically. The last thing he wanted to do was talk, but he couldn't disobey a direct order from his Alpha.

Sam folded his arms across his chest. "When you imprint on someone, Paul, you don't avoid them," he said. "You _can't_. We need to talk about your reaction today. There are certain things you need to understand and I will answer all your questions, but I need you to talk to me about it first. I need to know what you're feeling."

Paul merely stared at the ground, but the ensuing silence told him that Sam wasn't going to talk until he said something. He took a deep breath. "I don't even know her." It was all he could say. He had never met Serena, he knew nothing about her, but it was physically hurting him to be away from her.

Surprisingly, Sam didn't speak. He stood up, and Paul did the same. "You should talk to Emily," was all he said. He jogged back into the woods and transformed; Paul heard him run off to catch up with the rest of the pack. He sighed, but dragged his feet in the opposite direction, towards Sam and Emily's house. He didn't want to talk to anyone, but he knew why he was so willing to go to that house. Serena was staying there, and even one glimpse of her face would keep him going until he saw her again.

He knocked on the door this time, something he hadn't done in years. Emily opened it, and she seemed to know why he had come, because she smiled gently and came outside instead of inviting him in. There was an old sofa on the deck, where she now sat and indicated for Paul to do the same.

"She's fine," Emily's voice was soft. "She twisted her ankle pretty badly, but that girl is always hurting herself somehow or the other. She'll be fine in a couple of days. I just helped her to bed," Paul didn't look up to meet her eyes. "Do you want to see her, Paul?"

Her question caught him off guard. He blinked. "Uh."

Emily shook her head. "Sam told me what happened. What obsession do you Quilete boys have with us Makah girls anyway?" she raised an eyebrow. Paul cracked a smile, but didn't answer. She sighed. "Come on, Paul. What's up? Is it because you don't know her all that well?"

Paul shrugged. Emily folded her arms across her chest and gave him a look. Paul took the hint. "I feel weird about it, but I don't. It doesn't seem okay for this to happen without knowing her for even a few days."

"Love doesn't have to make sense, Paul," Emily patted his hand reassuringly. "Trust me, just talk to her a couple of times and things will start to work out. She's an amazing person. I've known her since she was ten years old and she has never been sad a day in her life. She's perfect for you. She'll manage that temper of yours pretty well," her voice became teasing, and Paul managed to crack a smile, but his eyes flitted up of their own accord, to the sole window on the first floor through which you could see that the light was still on.

**!**

The ringing of the doorbell made Serena curse and reach for the oven mitts, quickly removing the containers from the oven and kicking the door shut with her good foot. Wincing with pain, she limped across the room towards the main door and, without bothering to even ask who it was, wrenched it open. What she didn't expect was for Paul to be holding the other end of the doorknob, obviously about to enter since she had answered it late. Serena leaned back as the door opened and blinked when she saw who it was. Without thinking, she tried to take a step back, and ended up tripping over her bandaged foot. She yelped, but felt a hand close around her wrist as soon as she lost her balance.

Serena hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before Paul helped her back to her feet. He didn't remove his hand from her arm. She looked up at him. He was grinning.

"We need to stop meeting like this," she almost melted as his voice hit her ears. It was deep and soft and the kind of voice she wanted to wake up to every morning. It also sounded incredibly amused.

"Yeah," she snapped out of her daze and offered him her usual, friendly grin. "Sorry for falling to your feet every time, I usually save that for at least the third date," she had to work hard to make it sound like a joke.

Fortunately, he seemed to get the joke and find it maybe a little funnier than it really was. He laughed and let go of her arm, offering her his hand. "Paul."

"Serena," she shook his hand gingerly. He was bigger than she had expected, and she had to resist the urge to cringe away from him. He didn't seem to notice though.

"Is Emily here?" he asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Nope, she left to go grocery shopping. Can I help?" Serena moved away from the door and gestured for him to enter.

"I smelled pie," he grinned, a little abashed. "I thought I could get in before the guys came around."

"Well, your sense of smell is pretty accurate, and I'm glad to know my pies smell the same as Emily's," Serena grinned and jerked her head towards the kitchen. "She grounded me for spraining my ankle and gave me a list of chores that don't involve leaving the house."

"She's letting you cook?"

"Yup," Serena limped her way to the kitchen and got behind the counter. "In fact, I'm glad you came by. Here," she pushed one of the many dishes that littered the counter towards him. "I need someone to test these on."

Paul raised an eyebrow. "You're using me as a lab rat?"

Serena tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, not _technically_, but…" she trailed off and shrugged, beaming up at him brightly. "Please?"

Paul blinked. Serena's smile didn't falter, but internally she did wonder if she was laying it on too thick. However, to her surprise, Paul didn't even argue. He merely picked up a fork and dug out a large piece from the dish. Serena watched him chew, her eyes narrowed. After he swallowed, he looked at her for a few seconds and then grinned, giving her a thumbs up sign.

Serena clapped her hands together with glee. "Finally! I thought I had forgotten the recipe."

Paul grinned again and took another bite. "These taste exactly like the ones Emily makes."

"They're the same ones. My mom taught her and my sister how to cook, I was just the annoying ten year old who liked making a mess."

Paul laughed again. They lapsed into silence, and Serena gave him a small smile before ducking down under the counter, pretending to rummage for something but in actuality she was racking her brain trying to figure out what to say next. Fortunately, Paul beat her to it.

"Sam mentioned you wanted to see the caves up by the cliff," Serena peered up from under the counter and nodded. Paul raised his eyebrows. "It's a long hike, and its dangerous."

"I normally wouldn't be up for it, especially not with my track record," Serena straightened up and limped to the other side of the counter, taking a seat opposite him and swiping his fork from his hand. "I'm a really bad hiker. But I need pictures for my photography project, and its due in December. It'll be too cold in a month or so to go there, so I figured I should try for now," she helped herself to some pie and put the fork down. "Why do you ask?"

Paul picked up the abandoned fork and took another bite before handing it back to her. "Sam asked me if I could take you since I know the area pretty well," he said after swallowing. "My dad and I used to go camping up there."

"Oh," she blinked. "Well, I don't want to bug you. I can manage on my own too."

"If your project is due in December it makes sense to go now. Its bear season, but we'll stick to the main paths," he grinned. "As long as you don't make any pies, they'll stay away from us."

Serena laughed. "Point noted. I'll dig through these cupboards and try to make anti-bear snacks."

"Good idea," his voice was so solemn that Serena burst out laughing again. Paul grinned. "How early can you be up?"

"Not for a couple of days," she indicated her ankle.

Paul nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking next week. I want to go up there in advance and make sure you won't break your neck this time otherwise Sam will break mine."

Serena laughed. "I appreciate that."

"So, next Sunday how early can you be up?"

Her laughter died. Her eyes widened. "How early?" she squeaked. "Uh, I'm a late riser."

Now it was Paul's turn to laugh. "Define late riser."

"Uh, after two p.m.?" Serena winced.

Paul snorted. "How about we leave here at ten and I buy you coffee?"

Serena hit her head against the kitchen counter. "I don't suppose there's a night excursion option?"

"Nope."

She sighed. "Make it ten thirty and two of the biggest containers you can find."

"Deal," Paul's lips twitched. Serena was surprised to find that he was smiling quite a bit around her. It wasn't strange, since she had probably said more stupid things in their short exchange than she had ever said to any boy she had ever met, but she remembered the look on his face the first time he had seen her, a cross between shock and amazement. His current reaction didn't explain any of it and she couldn't bring herself to shrug it off.

Suddenly, she remembered something she had to say and blurted it out without thinking. "I'm sorry about your mom."

Paul blinked. He wasn't smiling anymore, but he also didn't look like he wanted to kill her. Serena took that as a good sign. He shrugged. "Its okay. We weren't close."

"But she was your mom," Paul shrugged again. Serena bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that. Its just that Leah told me yesterday and I just remembered, and I just wanted to say that I know how you feel and I also know its pretty sucky to not have someone to talk to or even just to say stupid things you can totally come to me because I'm a really good listener so if you ever want to talk I'm here and I think I've proven that I say a lot of stupid stuff."

Paul blinked. Serena immediately covered her mouth with her hands. He smiled a little. "Wow. You talk fast."

"I'm _so_ sorry!" Serena hid her face in her hands. "I rant when I'm nervous, I really didn't mean to make you awkward when you're being so nice to me!"

"Its okay," he laughed. "Thanks, for your rant. Honestly, it was much better than all the other speeches I've had to listen to. It was funny."

Serena didn't remove her hands. "Good funny or bad funny?"

"Good funny," Serena peeked at him through her fingers and saw that his expression was completely clear. In fact, he looked happier than he had when he had walked through the door, and she was sure it wasn't because of her pies. Then again, a quick glance at the counter littered with half eaten dishes showed that chances were her cooking played a major part in lifting his spirits.


End file.
